Aquaventure

We took tons of photos of all our fun in Dubai, but though the quality of the photos is average (a 5-year old camera + playful kids is not a good combo when it comes to photography), I still can’t resist looking at them again and again and remembering all the fun we had. I am going to be talking about some of the attractions we visited and break up our photos + experiences into a number of posts to avoid the one long slow post that never loads syndrome.

First up, let’s talk Aquaventure. This was the water park that we were all looking forward to with great anticipation, and this is the first (and the best) place we visited.

It was miles away from the place we were staying so it was a great first choice for us. We got a real good look at the city to and from Aquaventure, and immediately got familiarized with the routes and directions.

Aquaventure is part of Atlantis The Palm – a seven star hotel in the famous Palm Island of Dubai. If you are a guest at the hotel, entry is free, otherwise you need to queue up for the tickets or buy them online. It’s expensive as might be expected from a water park that’s associated with a fancy hotel, but it’s worth every Dirham you pay. In fact, one of our biggest regrets is that we didn’t return for a second day. It was that awesome!

We didn’t take too many photos as we were busy having bucket loads of fun. Piget loved the Splashers play area for little kids, and the wave pool. He spent the day there. We tried to entice him for a couple of rides on the rapids, but he was too apprehensive to take the plunge and we didn’t force him either. Instead K and me took turns playing with him, while the other went with the bigger kids on the big rides.

The highlight of the day was the Shark ride. We have a video of me and Snubnose on the ride but the clarity is not the best. Take a look at the video I’ve posted here (found on YouTube) that really shows the awesomeness of that ride.

Here’s our rather rushed instavideo below (I really need to work on my video editing skills 🙁 ).

After all the rides, we continued on to the Dolphin Bay within Aquaventure where we spent some time watching dolphins doing tricks. For an additional fee, you can also get into the water and pet the dolphins, but we didn’t opt for that.

Even if you tire of water rides, Aquaventure is worth visiting for the awesome beach and lovely swimming water. The water is lovely and warm and very inviting as is the fact that the beach is quite deserted. Since everyone is busy enjoying themselves on the rides, the beach is a wonderful place for a little quiet time. The amazing view of the Burj Al Arab in the distance also helps 🙂 .

It was close to 40 degrees celsius in Dubai and outside Aquaventure, it was unbearably hot, but once we entered the place, it was pretty cool and the heat was manageable because of all the water and shade around. We did almost empty an entire bottle of sunscreen though. Piglet’s skin is especially sensitive, and I didn’t want him to become all lobster-like.

Overall, it was a fabulous experience. Like I said expensive, but we had so much fun. It’s the one experience we keep coming back to when we talk about Dubai – definitely a highlight and a must-visit for water babies everywhere!